Paris Hilton: I 'could have been' like Princess Diana if not for sex tape

In the days after the presidential election last November, famed socialite and entrepreneur Paris Hilton gave an interview to Marie Claire that featured statements ranging from bonkers to downright reprehensible.

The most famous celebrity of the early aughts may not dominate tabloid coverage these days, but that doesn’t mean she’s any less busy. Hilton is now a DJ on the club circuit, commanding up to a million bucks per gig (yes, really!) and she’s still busy running clothing lines, perfume lines, and will be back on our screens in an as-yet-unnamed reality show soon.

Determined not to be a relic of her time, Hilton dished on her life now with the magazine, and it’s a doozy. She’s received plenty of backlash for her comments about longtime family friend and then-president elect Donald Trump, calling him “so nice, so respectful and sweet” (despite crude remarks he has made about her sexuality as a 12-year-old and admitting to watch her sex tape.

She also dismissed Trump’s resurfaced “grab them by the pussy” remarks and described the multiple women who raised allegations that Trump sexually assaulted them as “just trying to get attention and get fame.”

If you’re still with us, Hilton opened up about the release of her sex tape in 2003, which might be the sole reason to send a shred of sympathy Hilton’s way.

While the tape was an incredible pop culture moment that ultimately paved the way for her then-best friend Kim Kardashian to become, well, Kim Kardashian, few remember the sad details behind the tape, namely that Hilton was just 18 when she recorded it, and her boyfriend (Rick Salomon) was 33 years old.

Though many have speculated that Hilton profited off the tape’s release, according to Marie Claire, Hilton actually sued the distribution company to prevent its release. To this day, she maintains, “That's one thing that really pisses me off when I hear it, because I never, ever received one dollar from that video," she says. "That is the last thing that I would want out there."

According to the reporter, tears welled up in Hilton’s eyes as she said, “It's really hurtful, because my whole life I really looked up to Princess Diana, all these elegant, amazing women, and I feel like [Salomon] just took that all away from me," she says. "I could have been like that, but because of that tape, I will always be judged and thought of as whatever they say about me because of a private moment between my boyfriend and me. I wish I had never met him.”

The sex tape is such a sore subject for Hilton that she claims it is the only thing in her life she regrets. “I wish that I had never met that guy. I could not leave my house for months. I was so depressed, humiliated. I didn't want to be seen in public."

Well, she may never have achieved her dream of being like Princess Diana, but she certainly reached the same level of celebrity, and much like Princess Diana, we won’t soon be forgetting Paris Hilton’s name in pop culture history...for better or worse.